Alfred Francis Hunt
Memorial: Patchway
Regiment: Royal Engineers
Medals: British War Medal, Next of Kin Memorial Plaque 1914 - 1921, Victory Medal
Rank and number: Sapper (Service No. WR/308064) previously No. 530508)
Parents: Henry J and Henrietta Hunt
Marital status: Married
Home address: Home Address: 17 Sandon Place, Cardiff (1915) Lived: 1891 Census – Turnpike Road, Almondsbury
Pre-war occupation: Crane Driver
Date of birth: 1883
Place of birth: Patchway
Date of death: 13/08/1918
Buried/Commemorated at: Blargies Communal Cemetery Extension, Oise, France
Age: 34
Further information:
Alfreds mother died in 1897 and his father married an Emma Coles in 1899. Alfred originally enlisted in the Army Reserve in December 1915, but was not mobilised until September 1916 and was transferred to the 2/5th Battalion Essex Regiment.
When Alfred enlisted in December 1915, he lived in Cardiff (17 Sandon Place). On enlistment he was carrying rupture injuries and had to wear a truss, so he was placed in the Army Reserve. He must have recovered sufficiently to be called up in September 1916 initially to the Essex Regiment and then to the Royal Engineers Inland Waterways Transport. He was sent to France in June 1917. Alfred was on his way home on leave on 13 August 1918, when the Rouen to Bolongne train was in a collision at Aumale and Alfred was killed.
I have not located Alfred on the 1901 or 1911 Census, but his army service papers from 1915 refer to previous service with the Royal Field Artillery and 2nd Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry, so it is possible he was in the forces at the time.
Alfred married Gladys E Jones, 1st Quarter 1917 Cheltenham. Alfred and Gladys did not have any children. Gladys married Harry Ayres in 1920. The address for Gladys on the pension card is 8 St Pauls Street, South Cheltenham.
By kind permission, this information is based on the following source(s):
Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Findmypast (Soldiers Died during the Great War, 1901 & 1911 Census etc), Researcher John Davis.